


Find Us

by Houjuu



Category: The Lorien Legacies - All Media Types
Genre: Chicago AU, F/M, M/M, everyone lived AU, navrina, scavenger hunt, stohn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-20
Updated: 2017-10-20
Packaged: 2019-01-20 08:32:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12428931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Houjuu/pseuds/Houjuu
Summary: Nine and John decide to compete in a couples scavenger hunt against Eight and Marina. The only problem is that they're not dating. A reflective story from both Eight and Nine on the most important people in their lives.





	Find Us

"This city is too big."

"That's just because you're still too used to being alone in nature."

"Forests have cute animals, beautiful trees, and actual peace. I don't remember nature having such crappy taxi service."

"Cities have your favorite thing in the whole wide world though. And me."

She pulls the laugh from his chest with those few lines. She's good at it, good at knowing every part of him and what makes him feel the warmest.

"I make one joke about pizza two years ago and no one can let it go. This is my life now." They both shared the next laugh.

Side by side, Eight and Marina had stopped to take a break in one of the best lunch ins downtown Chicago had to offer. They decided to split a vegetarian noodle dish in a small restaurant away from the under of a July afternoon's heat, praying to be ahead of schedule. Food vendors and trucks line the streets but the sunlight, even for two hours they were out, had been too much. The rules of their little but extremely competitive game were simple enough; find the items. A scavenger hunt around the Chicago area. The pair had to find a monument, a cafe, a hot dog vendor, one of Chicago's biggest attractions, and finally, the part of 'us' that makes them happiest. Photos and souvenirs are both acceptable, just carry the proof. 

Sam and Ella had worked on their short list but Eight was sure that devious Ella did most of the brainstorming on all sides. The humans, Fleur and Daniela, chimed in with the last idea. A scavenger hunt of places or photos was too simple, especially since it was a competition. They needed to find something they couldn't just take a picture of, something they had to prove about themselves.

Their personal list was crafted like it was meant to be a relationship hunt; their competitors, Eight could only imagine, must have a harder one. Or, even better, the same.

"It only took us two years to find a way to that would make those two have to work together on something instead of insulting or one upping each other's ideas for enjoyment," Eight grinned.

Marina shook her head, taking another bite of their lunch. 

"Give them the apocalypse and they're an impossible team to beat. Make them play Mario Kart with some of our friends and it's like we've divorced the family," she grinned at him. "I'm amazed they agreed to even take part in this little game, and against us at that. We're actually unbeatable." She adds the last line with a smug grins and a wink.

"Talk about stressful," Eight agrees, smiling in response to her. He knew it was a game and he knew why they decided to design it into a competition. But still, the fact that it took a game to push the pair of them to do something relaxed and open with each other appealed him. He could remember the long night conversations he shared with his friend. He can remember the kiss of the wind on the cool Chicago night as they lamented for hours about their deepest, truest feelings.

Eight knew he loved Marina with his entirety. He has since the war finished, since the Garde teamed together to defeat Setrakus Ra once and for all. Since the two had taken their time to see the world together and develop where they left off in Florida. 

Eight remembers knowing merely by the soft smile on his usually snarky friend's face and by the quiet light that touched his dark brown eyes at the mention of the name that thrived in his thoughts.

Number Nine was in love and he himself did not even realize it. 

Maybe that's why Nigel and Six helped Ella set up the other list. Ella might know Nine, but Six knew his companion far more. Nigel was moral support, perhaps someone to bounce ideas off of since he and Nine proved in recency to be very alike.

Plus, Eight liked to joke that Ella thought Nigel's bi instincts could cover the rest of the other two's insufferable cluelessness. 

"Oh well, we'll just have to show them how it's done. Let's see what we've got so far," Eight clears his mind of the competitors and shifts in his spot. He takes the list from where it was tucked under the plate near Marina's hands to see what they scratched off. The two of them had taken their first couple selfie picture ever near Cloud Gate, or whatever the giant bean in the park was called. He surprised Marina with his excellent front camera skills and even kissed her cheek when he snapped it. Her smile was beautiful in the picture like always, her laughter so contagious that his smile still hasn't faltered from hearing it an hour ago.

The war threatened to break her. His accident almost changed her. But Marina had the will to survive anything, the edge and the knowledge to use her pain to become something even the ultimate evils of the galaxies like Ra flinched at.

Marina had balance and Eight felt completely lucky to see her at every moment, even when they were running around the city to outpace the other potential couple.

The second item on the list made Eight laugh the most and Marina roll her eyes. The hot dog vendor had been close by the Bean so they agreed to get another picture quick before the line got busy for lunch hour in the middle of the city. Marina wanted to go up to ask if it were ok for her to act like she was ordering so Eight could take the photo but Eight had other plans. He told her that he would order something, a surprise.

A picture was good and his action shot of him leaned over with his hand propped under his chin like a flirt was better, but he had a mission to complete with the hunt the moment he laid eyes on that little request.

He finally bought her the hot dog she originally wanted on their first date. He didn't care what she or the others said, that day they snuck out into the city was the day their relationship started.

The day he realized that the world around him didn't deserve someone as elegant and wise as Marina.

Marina had taken a few bites of the dog between her flustering laughter before deeming she didn't like eating in front of him so close to lunch. Especially since it was meat. They made fun of the idea of vegan hot dogs together. 

She remembered every detail. He adored every moment.

Now, they were at a small cafe. He took a picture of her sitting in front of their lunch, giving him that single brow raised smirk look like she couldn't believe he was still taking pictures of her. He found it cute. He was going to keep every moment of this day with him forever.

Marina was now studying a map of Chicago, her hair curled down and around the sides of her face and neck. She always managed to find a way to take his breath away. The thoughtful look on hurt face, in her eyes, was beautiful. She wanted every task to be perfect, unique, and completely them; Eight just considered himself lucky for even being allowed to sit here with her.

"The aquarium sounds fun, I wish we had animal telepathy though," Marina murmurs with a smile. "I wonder what the otters think and gossip about."

"We can always make it up as we go," Eight suggests with his usual grin. She raised a brow, her own growing the longer she held his stare.

"I'd like that more actually."

"What are we waiting for then? Let's get moving!"

How perfectly they fit together, he realized as they stood up to leave for the next stop. How Eight could say anything in the world and Marina would respond with her smile and complete understanding of his person. How he, Number Eight, had the purest fortune in the world to be able to fall in with her, Number Seven, of all the ten who lived. Like they were meant to find and stand with each other forever.

He knew that what he loved most of all about them was Marina of the Sea found Naveen Joseph amongst the land and together, they had found the stars. 

They came so far together and neither of them would dare stop before the end of their time together.

First, it began in the cave he spent those many miserable years alone after Reynolds. Then, it quickly grew into something small as they teleported and transferred locations, eager to unite with the other Garde in the States.

Marina saved him. He'd been struck in the Mogadorian base while fighting alongside Nine and Four but Marina had wanted nothing to do with the death prophecy that hung over his head and ticked in the back of his ear like a clock for years. 

He almost died in Florida. Five had struck him on accident when he turned on their group with all intention of killing Nine off for his snide comments and his trained hatred but Eight had to be the hero. Eight was not going to let the misled boy get away with his misguided anger and hurt one of their own. So, he jumped in front of Five using his teleportation and braced for impact. Nine was a warrior, he would lead the other Garde into the fray. 

But, he had eyes on him that day. Soft eyes, caring eyes. 

Marina had used her telekinesis in the last instance to throw him off balance and barely miss his heart with that pocket blade. Marina pressed her hands to his bleeding stab mark to heal him from life threatening to stable. She turned and fought Five herself with no help after that, taking out the other boy's eye and impaling his foot clean through with sharp chunks of ice she manifested despite the boggy, humid atmosphere of the Florida Everglades. Eight held his wounds and watched, helpless but awestruck as Marina, his beautiful and kind Marina, took on a trained Mogadorian influenced warrior and won effortlessly.

She had saved him again.

It was that moment he knew his heart aligned with the best choice he would ever make. He'd fallen for the perfect girl and he was ready to fight at her side.

They took on the war alongside the other Garde. They led the Human Garde to master their abilities as best they could in a week with Six and Nine. They did everything in their power to help the fight, even if it meant putting aside their shared anger with what Five tried to do and for that, Five defended them from the monstrous augmentations in return.

Eight and Marina also tried to steer John's wrath as best they could, but without knowing Sarah as best as they could or should have, they had been at a standstill. Eight could avoid his death prophecy, but it hurt knowing that Sarah Hart was not to be so lucky. It hurt knowing he couldn't provide for John in the same way that he had for all of them, the way he threw himself through hell for all of them.

Eight knew who could help. Someone who'd offer anything up as long as it meant John didn't have to grieve and hurt for much longer. He remembers Nine's soft smirk and the way the light hit his eyes when he talked about John one passing night well after Ra's death. How Nine said he wanted to go find him alone.

Thus a challenge was born. It's been a year since the Garde and company did something for themselves. Eight knew it hadn't been too long since Marina and himself did something for them, in this way the pair and everyone else could finally move past the quiet riff in the group. Really, Ella was the one who put all of the thought into making it a game; she was the only one to call out the tension between them all. Specifically the other two. Nine and John are as highly competitive as Eight and Marina were. Relationships were all about finding, about connecting and developing something worthwhile over shared experience and careful growth.

Even now she does not realize it, on the battlefield and off of it, Marina continues to save him, to find him and walk alongside him.

Eight knew he found that last object on their list with ease, he knew his answer before they even set out into the city. But more time away from the crowd and with the most beautiful person in his world would never hurt. If he even so much as asked, he knew that they'd take their time returning to the penthouse with their findings. 

"We still need to find something that represents us," Eight starts with a smirk, committing to the idea. "Think they can wait a few hours before we find an answer?"

He asked the question though he already knew the answer. Marina matches his grin and takes his hand to hold. Her eyes shown that she had her answer as well, but she has been thinking something similar.

"They run on our time, after all," she adds, squeezing Eight's hand once before leading them on their way back into the city.

\----

"The skyline thing gets kind of old when you remember you can just fly above it all."

But still, John Smith kept a soft, timid hand planted against the glass wall of one of the many floating boxes dangling from the side of the Sear's Tower. He braved looking down past his feet down to the ant sized pieces of life on the streets below. 

His blue eyes are curious, with one of his eyebrows crinkled upward in thought as he continued to look from his feet back to the cityscape in front of him. 

"But," he murmurs. "I guess I also really... haven't actually looked at a city like this before." 

Nine smirks to himself just watching the blonde boy from outside the glass box. John wanted to go in and be alone with the sights and, thanks to his status, everyone just sort of moved aside and let him. Many people knew John's name and face by now; it wasn't everyday someone met annoy who was the terror suspect turned hero they all needed that helped vanquish evil from every corner of the planet. 

Not to mention the gossip magazines called him the most eligible bachelor of the century. Hell, the world. He remembers laughing until he couldn't breathe at the headline "Kirk Who? The New Intergalactic Sensation That'll Have You Begging To Be Beamed Up" on a newsstand with a picture of John in New York with Sam and Dani and snatched one of the zines to make fun of the blonde Garde with later on. 

They knew of his powers so, luckily, his earlier comment wouldn't matter whose ears it fell on. It was a miracle that some of the tourists weren't stopping John or Nine himself for quick selfies in the box over the Chicago world. 

He was popular too, dammit. Who needed two arms when you had dashing good looks, a killer smirk, and the loyalty of the best soldiers in your veins. Not to mention being part of a viral video that continues to garner views to this day.

"Are you done yet? We do have a challenge to win," Nine calls out to John in a bored tone. The blonde peered back to him and shrugged, walking towards where Nine stood. 

"We got our attraction down, we found a cafe, and we got our hot dog, where to next," John asks, looking over Nine's arm at the crumpled paper in his hand. Their list was a very simple collection of things to find in the city of Chicago: a landmark, a hot dog vendor, a cafe, one of Chicago's biggest attractions, and finally, a very sappy one.

Nine was dreading the sappy part. He kept it covered with his thumb and cursed Ella every time he read over her neat little handwriting.

'Find us.'

"I was thinking Navy Pier since I know Eight and Marina would be all over Cloud Gate. It's the tourist-y thing to do in Chicago and it's not my style. They can go be a couple in broad daylight and we can have real fun."

"You lost me after two words, Cloud what?"

"Don't worry about it, let's just get moving," Nine waves him off and headed for the elevator. He knew this city like the back of his hand; this was the city that captured his heart far before any human or Loric did. He knew where the streets bent had history. He knew how the people swelled with pride in the summer night and how the people shrank with disgust in the winter. Sandor showed him everything he needed to, everything that would help Nine navigate his way from place to person and teach him his world. 

The one thing that Sandor couldn't teach him, however, was how the people themselves could be dangerous if let in too close. His Cepan had briefly covered a lover he lost before the ship came to Earth and how she helped him become who he wanted to be. He mentioned her death but never how much her death had actually ruined him. People could sting. He had to learn from experience that losing Maddy felt like he was ready to stay down, that losing Sandor made him want to surrender any hope he had left while he rotted away in the Mog cavern. 

Even now, two years later, he still had an occasional nightmare of Sandor's bleeding chest wounds he left to save their peoples' secrets. His hands were still red, even after he continued to wake up.

He feared how much it would hurt to let someone like John Smith come that far, knowing that John could cut him loose so easily if he also grew too close. They were both hardened and scarred but still standing; they were going to move on from their emotional wounds together. They understood each other's pain in ways no other Garde could.

"Why don't we just go to that bean thing?"

"That's... that's what Cloud Gate is."

"That's a stupid name."

"Remind me who thought John Smith was a good idea."

A soft slap echoes after that. The sound of John lightly punching Nine's arm, followed by their shared laugh.

The elevator trip down back to the street level is long but not completely painful. Another tour group huddled in, crowding the space and keeping the air conditioning at a distance with masses of body heat. Nine dwelled on the feeling of warmth as John's shoulder brushed against his once or twice for room. 

He liked the thought of John's skin rubbing against his too much. Hands, arms, other intimate places. 

In his typical fashion, John gave Nine a pointed look as though he blamed him for the small space. Then, he gently shoved Nine back for getting too close to him with a gentle smirk. A challenge. The older Garde grinned in response. That's what he liked most of all. He met a Garde on this planet, of the ten that were sent from Lorien, that never admitted he was weaker and always confronted him with a test. John didn't second guess himself in front of Nine even if he was wrong. He would hold his chin high and met Nine's eyes with a flash of ambition in his own blue like his life depended on it. He didn't want to be intimidated. He wanted to be on the same level, maybe on a greater one

Nine could have swore John's hand had lingered against his chest. His also knew that his need for this closeness often clouded his thoughts.

He always felt the gripping in his chest just thinking about it, that constant fear. He feared that because of how they are, that meant the possibility of a romantic commitment in between them could never happen. Too much challenge, too much of a rift between each other. Nine loathed letting John get away with anything as much as he knew how the blonde boy hated seeing Nine stand so proud and victorious; would it really work? 

He can still feel the tender touch of John's hand on his own when the other boy had use his power to put Nine's broken hand back together. He can feel John's laugh shake his core from when they first reunited after the one group left with Five to Florida and the Mogadorians attacked on the Hancock center. He can still hear the soft, broken mumble of the fourth Garde's voice when he pieced Nine back together from the brink of death; the pain on every syllable the blond boy muttered for his ears alone.

He remembers their final conversation before the Garde packed up and faced Setrakus Ra for the final time. He remembers the desperation in his tone as he achingly convinced John to stay; the fear that his sores wouldn't have ever been enough to stop him from himself. John thought the only way to end it was to die himself, the way Pittacus Lore eventually had on Earth. He thought he was the next Pittacus Lore, the next savior to put himself down for the rest of his people.

He wanted to die because he thought he could give away so much with his death. Nine was never so glad for John to be wrong in his life. 

He'd grown long past the sting of his pride being the root of his anger. There was no singular Elder that would rule over the remaining Garde, they were to all be equals now. When Six retrieved John from the rubble, barely breathing and gravely injured, she spoke of executing Ra herself. 

After Ra, after nearly two months in a hospital, John had fled for an entire year to focus on himself. To better himself. With his legacy, he became an animal out for blood and he had to learn to tame it, alone.

And Nine was the first person he came back to see after that, the first he embraced and rekindled with after tortured months of loneliness. The other Garde don't know exactly how much time the two of them spent together after that, after reuniting with each and every one of the others. But they hadn't talked. Physically and in small doses yes, but having that talk after the war, no.

There was a chance. Nine could let himself hope for something sweet to happen to him, as well as to his best friend, one more time.

Nine felt it. But... now the question remained. What did John feel? Nine couldn't let himself read into it. He had enough details mapped out in his memories. But he was never good at dissecting people and as of now, there were just too many other concerns for him to worry about than learn how to connect with too many new or old people.

Out on the street at least, the two decided to walk most of the way until they found the more familiar parts of the city that Nine could effortlessly guide them through. The routes he took with Mandy, the routes he took when he snuck out from the penthouse, were all being reclaimed by something simple and perfect now. Nine hoped that the fresh air and quiet time navigating the concrete jungle meant they could leave that constant power struggle behind and turn it into something else. 

John kept his eyes between the sky above them littered with buildings and in front of him to avoid any collisions. Nine tried to keep his eyes on the route but let himself catch glimpses of the other boy as they walked. The sun highlighted all of his strongest features like it knew that Nine already saw John's light. His cheekbones and nose were carefully sculpted. His messy hair glowed under the rays as it tucked and curled around his ears and forehead, like it was tossed around with every thought. He was always so careful with his surroundings yet so eager to see the dangerous parts of the world to the end. John didn't take his world for granted and Nine admired his effort. He wanted his world to be worth every risk he'd taken for almost seventeen years.

Their hands brushed once or twice during the walk; Nine chose to keep his thoughts to himself and let his nervous exhaled air speak. Out of the comer of his eye, he would catch John trying to pry into his line of sight seconds after his knuckle had brushed the back of Nine's fist. 

Cautious. Maybe waiting.

Definitely tense.

"We've gone this far, it shouldn't be much longer if we keep walking," Nine finally spoke after what felt like ages.

"Agreed," was all John said. His eyes were focused ahead, his expression unreadable. 

"Well," Nine started, stopping his pace. John turned to face him with a small, thoughtful frown. "There is one place in the city that could count for our scavenger hunt. Sears can count as a landmark and a big attraction, Navy Pier is for romantic chumps and the Cubs aren't playing in town this weekend. Who willing rides a Ferris Wheel for a half hour? Married people."

"Plus rides... have sort of lost their attraction," John adds, crossing his arms. "When you can fly, there's not a lot of manmade thrills left to take." 

"Well, there's some physical thrills," Nine smiled, almost genuinely soft when he saw John's eyes narrow in suspicion. He didn't show a lot of softness often after all, just in pinches around John or Ella. "And there are the thrills you feel instead of experience. The mental and emotional ones instead of the flight over or some other weak enjoyment."

John held his stare for a moment. His narrowed glare turned into a thoughtful one, opening his mouth to comment but choosing to look down at his feet instead.

"Suppose you're right," he mumbled after a second, shrugging a little. "Still can't believe you thought to take me to an amusement park."

"It's not an amusement park, it's a romantic getaway."

"An afternoon with you, how romantic."

Nine knew he was plenty brave. The things he'd done, for both his own safety, Lorien's safety, and his new family, were endless piles of courageous acts and gut will. But he still needed to calm the painful dance his stomach made whenever he saw John sink down on himself over anything, quell the urge to reach out and touch him so he knew he wasn't alone anymore.

"Anyway. We could always just sneak back to the penthouse. The John Hancock center counts as an important place in Chicago," Nine nudges John next to him, hoping to break the suddenly flustering conversation. "You turn us invisible and I walk us up there, we just drop in suddenly and surprise the others after we take a picture or some shit."

"You know," John eyes him with a grin. "That's the first time I've ever heard you make a smart plan."

"Shut up and give me your hand."

Warm and miraculously soft like they always were, Nine thought to himself as soon as he thought about the first time he'd transferred his antigravity to him. It was moments like these that he savored most of all.

It took little time to make it to the roof of the John Hancock center. Nine never got to hold hands. John opted to fly the pair of them up instead of split the responsibility and ask for help, something he tended to do more often than not. Nine hated that habit of his, but didn't expect the mumbled apology that came right after they landed. He said he didn't want to waste their time; if only John knew that any moment away from the crowds that Nine could spend with him privately was never considered a waste.

"You remember the last time we went up here," Nine asks with that signature, devilish smirk of his after a while of overlooking the city. The one he knew would always win.

John gives him that familiar, signature scowl in response, the one he saves for Nine and Nine alone. It's almost like he was bored of the memory, bored of hearing about it over and over whenever Nine felt the need to get under his skin. Nine didn't blame him but their rooftop episode was the one thing he could bring up that would make John look at him a way he looked at no one else. After a bit, his friend's expression lightened up after a bit and he leaned over the railing of the side to look out into the city.

"I think me carrying the big, bad Nine bridal style up the side of his home beats that stupid fight now in terms of embarrassing memories of Four and Nine," he replies cheekily.

"Get bent," Nine laughes at him, lightly shoving John with an elbow. 

"See how it feels?" John nudges him with his elbow, meeting his eyes for a brief moment before smiling softly out over the cityscape. 

"It was about time we reclaimed this spot with something else."

He pauses, his ears reddening softly like he had realized too late how he let something slip. He turns his head away from Nine entirely, shifting his arm a little from its spot on the railing. John's hand slowly brushes across his again, like earlier on their walk, and it was now that Nine realized earlier it hadn't been accidental. He lookes over fully, examining the blonde's cheeks as they tinted in a soft red color. He lets himself stare, waiting for John to return the look that he knew was there.

The list had a reason. The tension was all there. He was blind to realize that they wouldn't have been put up to such a simple challenge with the end goal to find themselves if John hadn't reciprocated anything. 

"I, uh, glanced at the list before we left," John admits quietly after a moment. He keeps his eyes trained away from Nine. "I hadn't realized you..." He continues and trails off, his cheeks reddening further. He scratches the back of his head.

Nine watches him try and put his words together, smiling softly to himself with every mumble. 

"Things are... have been pretty different now and after spending almost a year alone, uh," John tries to start again, turning his head to address Nine but stopping when he sees his expression. "What?"

Nine shrugs in response before leaning in to close the gap between them with a soft kiss.

"You talk too much," he murmured when he pulled back.

"So I've been told," John laughed softly back, placing his hands against Nine's arms. This time, John leans up and kisses him, tender and warm. Nine lets his hands trail to hold his waist, holding him into the embrace.

Find us.

Us had been there all along. The pair had realized it late but they were ready to find more of themselves in each other.

John breaks the kiss after a moment and rests his head against Nine's chest. He wraps his arms tight around Nine.

"So. Do we have to go back in", he asks with a cheeky tone.

"Nope. They run on our time," Nine runs a hand through John's hair and glances over the city. "We can take our time."

"Good. We spent long enough avoiding it, I want to cherish it," he mumbles.

Nine turns and presses a kiss to John's forehead.

"So do I."


End file.
